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By F. Julius Fohs

As an industry approaches stabilization, greater and greater stress must be laid on its technologic progress, which becomes a prime aid in improving its condition. The oil industry is tending toward this stage and hence its engineers must be pressed into greater service to prevent stabilization and stagnation from becoming synonymous, and to supply, either by improvements in processes or by new machinery, a means of obtaining savings in raw and finished products. Thus profits can be assured warranting continued investment. It may be repeated, technology must apply a slight improvement here, a change there, or a complete renovation, to eliminate inefficiencies and make each dollar invested yield greater results. The profits of ycstcrday were made of rich strikes, of monopolized patents or processes, of control of prices and of markets. Sixty-five years of growth, of large investment, of healthful competition, and of expanding markets, have put the oil industry in the foremost rank of world industries. .Just as the railroads passed a similar period of expansion and growth, and arc being stabilized with reasonable profits, so the oil industry must take advantage of the efforts of its engineers and experts to promote its healthful growth and a better service to the people. Herein is attempted a review of recent progress in which is presented the advances in exploration, production engineering, transportation, refining and greater efficiency in uses of petroleum, with a view not only to stressing important new processes and methods, but also the problems that press for solution. This review can only touch outstanding developments of recent years, but the several Petroleum Division symposiums of our program will present details worthy of attention. Exploration Geology offers directly little new in the technique of oil-finding— major stress being laid on improvement in subsurface correlation by means of foraminifera1 studies, additions to the knowledge of which are being made, slowly but surely, and by means of mineral, and especially heavy mineral, determinations in well samples. The general application

Jan 1, 1927

By N. W. Wickersham, Ward B. Blodget, Roberts R. Boyd

The year 1926 has seen few radical changes or developments in methods of drilling and handling oil wells, but it has been a year of steady progress and development in deep drilling and production methods. Probably the outstanding development of the year was recognition by the directors of the American Petroleum Institute of the importance of natural gas in the production of oil, and the Institute directors' resolutions in December, 1926, regarding regulation of gas production with oil by state legislation. This matter is extremely important and will receive the attention of the industry in 1927. Advances in Drilling Equipment The history of the progress of deep well drilling is the solution of problems as they have confronted the operator. As the prospects for deeper production have become apparent, methods of penetrating the earth to greater depths have been devised. Rotary Equipment Improvements in the construction and in the methods of operation of rotary drilling equipment have practically caused elimination of cable tools in California for all but shallow work. The rotary drill, from 1910 when it began to be a practical factor in California, has been making steady advances, first displacing cable tools for drilling to the oil sands in proved fields and later displacing the cable-tool outfit entirely. With the perfection of machinery for taking core samples of the formation penetrated, the rotary drill has become generally used for wildcat work, continuous coring being practiced when desirable. Deep Holes The use of the rotary drill has made commercially feasible the opening of oil fields at greater depths than was considered possible with cable tools. Heavier equipment has been promptly supplied as occasion has

Jan 1, 1927

By Charles H. Osmond

The rapid progress of basic changes in refining processes, which has characterized this division of the petroleum industry during the last 7 years, slowed up in 1926 and the industry as a whole devoted itself to the enormous task of adopting these changes to its methods of manufacturing. If for no other reason, the year of 1926 will stand out as the first year of widespread activities in placing refining on a true manufacturing basis. A brief survey of each of the important operations and the trend of the changes with their economic results indicate the importance of this period of transition. No attempt has been made to detail the numerous activities in each of the major operations and the writer would refer those seeking such information to the various trade papers and the paper on "Basic Changes in Refining Processes," by Walter Miller.' Distillation.—-Distillation (excluding cracking) is the major item in refining. During the past year there has been a wide application of the improvements developed in former years. Operating costs have been reduced for fuel, labor and capital items. Practically all types of distillations are now carried on as semi-continuous or continuous operations, rather than by the old batch method. Heat-saving devices, such as heat exchangers, or improved combustion chambers, have had a marked effect on the total fuel bill of the industry. The modern pipe-still has been widely used and figures available show that approximately 10 per cent. of the older shell equipment was replaced by pipe-stills during 1926. The range of usefulness of this type of equipment has been extended successfully to the most complicated types of lubricating oil manufacture. These stills afford marked economies in fuel as well as labor costs, also many advantages in older plants where space is limited, as a single pipe-still can replace several batteries of shell stills. Capital expenditure per barrel capacity is decidedly lower and offers economy in this direction. Although there has been considerable discussion of other types of distillation equipment such as the vacuum still, there has been no appreciable increase in these installations during 1926. Cracking.—-Cracking equipment increased rapidly during 1926 as evidenced by the increase in output of cracked gasoline from an average

Jan 1, 1927

By James H. Gardner

It is a striking fact in the domestic oil statistics of 1926 that with an increase in production of 13,000,000 bbl., there was nevertheless a lowering of both crude and gasoline stocks. It was the first reduction in the last eight years. In 1918, the last year of the war, stocks of crude and refined products were lowered 16,000,000 bbl., but in the following seven years stocks were increased 350,000,000 bbl., due largely to the phenomenal crop of major pools discovered in 1923. The big pools of that year coming as they did through some curious coincidence unprecedented in the oil industry, not only piled up a sudden increase of stocks at a time of large imports but they continued to add their quota to an increase of storage until 1926. With an increase in crude production, according to the Oil and Gas Journal, from 760,000,000 bbl. in 1925 to 773,000,000 bbl. in 1926, and an increase in cracking facilities of about 30 per cent., there was a draft on storage of 22,300,000 bbl. of crude and 1,000,000 bbl. of refined. Crude and refined changed from a stock surplus of 29,130,000 bbl. in 1925, to a deficit of 23,300,000 bbl. in 1926, or a differential total of 52,430,000 bbl. With a stock reserve of 541,700,000 bbl. of crude and refined oil in 1925, the amount drawn from storage was not large in percentage but it marked an important contrast with previous years. It meant a year of stability in prices and a sound condition in the industry. The indicated domestic demand increased from 695,120,000 in 1925 to 743,360,000 in 1926, (7 per cent.), 1 per cent. of which was due to California fires. Most of the gain in consumption was due to the increased demand for gasoline. There was little comparative change in the combined imports of crude and refined oil. There was an increase in exports of 17,200,000 bbl. (1.5 per cent). A petroleum balance sheet for 1926 and a comparativl sheet for the last two years, production in the United States by major districts and pools, and a list of imports are given in Tables 1 to 5, inclusive.

Jan 1, 1927

By W. T. Thom

Interest naturally attaches to fissuring and subsidence of the earth's surface, whatever the cause may be, and the induced movement and fissuring of the impervious strata overlying an oil sand is of even greater practical importance because of its bearing upon the recoverability of the portion of the oil not already extracted or extractable by ordinary production methods. It is probably true that significant ground movement induced by oil production occurs only in oil fields in relatively young formations, where the oil comes from incoherent or only slightly cemented sands and oil-soaked clays, but inasmuch as a great proportion of our "gusher" wells produce from "running" sands and yield a large part of the total oil output, it seems worth while to make an effort to inspire the collection and recording of data indicating the nature and magnitude of oil-field subsidence, both surface and subsurface. Goose Creek Field The single known instance in which the nature and magnitude of the surface subsidence incident to petroleum withdrawal has been accurately ascertained is that in the Goose Creek oil field of Texas, described by Pratt and Johnson.' There subsidence caused the submergence of a considerable area within the oil field, and, because the title to the naturally submerged lands of Texas rests in the State, it became necessary to determine whether the submergence was due to natural or artificial causes. A detailed study revealed that the sunken area conformed very closely to the limits of the productive oil field and that the cumulative depression over an eight-year period ranged from zero at the margin to 3.25 ft. at the center. This depression was accompanied by the development of local marginal surface fractures along which the subsiding ares

Jan 1, 1927

By F. N. Speller

Interest in the corrosion problem seems to continue without abatement and is bringing practical results. At least four important conferences on this subject have been held during the last 5 months. Those interested in steel-frame structures are taking steps to study vulnerable points on account of the failure of some minor parts in certain buildings after 35 years of service. The steam power-plant group, including the railroads, realize the importance of a better knowledge of corrosion, especially under modern high-temperature boiler operations. The chemical and refrigerating industries have already conducted a systematic study of depreciation of metals by corrosion, for which they have spent considerable money and time during the last 2 years with encouraging results. More has probably been done to control corrosion in the atmosphere and in closed water systems, because the work on these phases of the problem started over 15 years ago and the important factors are now fairly well understood. As a result of all this work, there is now little excuse for corrosion in water conduits, recirculating condensers and cooling systems, since economical means of prevention have been worked out to meet nearly all situations where such corrosion occurs. The entire Baltimore water supply was treated with lime at a cost of only 35 c. per million gallons and the rate of attack on the pipes has been reduced to not over 20 per cent. of what it was before the treatment. Yearly damage to water mains in Baltimore is estimated at $300,000, and in New York City at $5,000,000, not including damage to water conduits in buildings. In some cities corrosion is now recognized by water works' engineers as a major problem. In the oil industry, there are evidently three general classes of corrosion, relating to: (I) Production, (2) transportation, and (3) refining. (1) Production.—Some fields, those of California for example, have little corrosion trouble in the wells. In others this is a major problem and should be a strong incentive to the development of more resistant metals at a reasonable cost. E. G. Woodruff,' consulting geologist, has pointed out that more of the oil of the future will probably come from the

Jan 1, 1927

By John A. Mathews

It is no longer necessary to explain to an audience like this that there are stainless or non-corrosive steels. It is still necessary to repeat, and to keep on repeating, that no one of them is stainless or non-corrosive under any and all conditions. We do not make railroad axles, springs and rails from the same kinds of steel; nor are shafts, steering-arms, gears and cap-screws made from the same type analysis. By analogy with other fields of endeavor, therefore, it is logical to expect that all the myriad conditions of corrosion due to inorganic and organic acids and salts and their mixtures in all degrees of concentration and at a wide variety of temperatures and pressures will require different materials to withstand them. Possibly stainless steel when first introduced a decade ago was expected to do too much, or suffered from overenthusiasm and lack of positive knowledge and experience on the part of its producers. Its name may have been a bit misleading too, for remarkable as this product is, it has its limitations. There are now so many different ferrous products available and calling for recognition, that we may be justified in an attempt at classification. The first division is very simple. 1. Non-corrosive steels that harden by quenching. 2. Non-corrosive steels which do not harden by quenching. We might make the classification still simpler by saying (1) those that harden by quenching, and (2) those that soften by quenching. Of course there is a border line or fringe of compositions which may possess some of both qualities under limited conditions of treatment. I have seen a steel so perfectly balanced on this border line that in its natural condition, as rolled, the outside of a 1-in. bar was soft and the inside hard, and there was quite a sharp line of demarcation in between. The hardness at the center was more than twice as great as at the surface, as measured by the Rockwell test. This border line of products does not include, however, the commercial products now available to solve the problems of industry. Let us examine the products of these two classes: Hardenable Non-cokkosive Steels This group, practically speaking, includes only the products known as "stainless iron and stainless steel." These names have a special sig-

Jan 1, 1927

By Arthur Knapp

The petroleum industry is confronted with the problem of conservalion. This is not a simple problem in view of a wide difference of opinion among authorities as to whether conservation is necessary and the specific direction that it should take. Many writers accuse the petroleum industry of wasting the natural resources of the country. Others link the consuming public with the industry in this waste. Let us define our terms; agree, if possible, on where and when waste occurs in connection with either the recovery or use of petroleum and select such plans for conservation as appear most practical. A plan for conserv3tion which appears to be logical today may not meet the problem tomorrow. The conservation of petroleum is closely linked with the advancement of marly arts and sciences and as these advance, the plan of conservation has to change. The need for conservation does not necessarily rest upon the elimination of waste. There is not necessarily a fixed connection between waste and conservation. Conservation may be necessary or desirable although there is no waste. Definitions Waste: Useless or unnecessary expenditure. Conservation: The preservation of the natural resources for economical use. Both definitions contain adjectives the interpretation of which is extremely difficult. It is the determination of what expenditures are "unnecessary" or what uses are "economical" that will require study and agreement. If one lets his automobile engine run in cold weather in order to keep it hot, it is difficult to measure that necessity. If an automobile is driven two blocks, when the driver is physically capable of walking, what is the measure of necessity. This question is in the realm of one of the oldest of sociological problems, "What is a luxury?"—a problem which has not been solved. The history of society indicates that the measure of a man's wealth has been the measure of necessity. What he can afford to buy without stinting himself in some other direction, is not a luxury to him and, if it fulfills his desires, may be considered his necessity.

Jan 1, 1927

By Joseph E. Pogue

The outstanding features of 1926 in the petroleum industry included the following: 1. Stocks of all oils (crude and refined) were reduced, making the first annual decline since 1918. 2. Domestic crude oil production increased steadily during the last 11 months of the year, accelerating during the fourth quarter, and ending the year at the highest level ever attained. 3. Three new major oil fields were developed—Panhandle, Spindle-top and Seminole. 4. Important advances were registered in production technique, tending to retard the declines of old wells and to maintain the flush periods of new wells. 5. The problem of gaining greater economic control of production through unit operations and gas conservation received growing recognition by the industry and the Federal Oil Conservation Board. 6. The rate of drilling was sharply increased during the second quarter of the year and suffered only a very slight retardation during the closing months. 7. The runs of crude oil to stills were maintained above normal throughout the year and underwent acceleration during the fourth quarter. 8. The gasoline situation was marked by a continuous and substantial increase in the rate of production of cracked gasoline, and by an improvement in the statistical position of the commodity. 9. Prices of both crude petroleum and its principal derivatives were characterized by more profitable levels and greater stability than for a number of years past; and, while showing declines during the fourth quarter, prices did not recede sufficiently to slow down materially either drilling or refinery operations. Change in Stocks The keynote of 1926 was a reduction in stocks of all oils to the extent of approximately 24,000,000 bbl., or 4.4 per cent., of which roundly

Jan 1, 1927

By Valentin R. Garfias

The world's production of petroleum during 1926 is estimated at 1,096,000,000 bbl., an increase of about 29,000,000 from that of 1925 and somewhat larger than the average during the last 4 years, which is about 1,049,000,000 bbl. The daily average during the year may be estimated at 3,000,000 bbl. of which the United States produced 2,123,000 and other countries 877,000. The outstanding developments during the year have been the decline of the Mexican fields, the counterbalancing of this decline by the increase in Venezuelan and Russian production, and increases in Roumania and Colombia. During 1926 the United States, Mexico and Russia retained their relative positions as the three leading producers, while Venezuela probably outranked Persia for fourth place, Roumania passed Dutch East Indies for sixth, and Colombia moved from sixteenth to the eleventh position. It further appears that should present conditions develop normally throughout 1927, it is not improbable that Mexico will be outranked by Russia as the second oil-producing country and that the increased yield of Colombia will place this country in the eighth or ninth position, and ahead of India. The United States and Mexico should produce in 1926 about 79 per cent. of the world's total and the aggregate of the seven leading countries should be close to 95 per cent. of the total. It is interesting to note that about 85 per cent. of the total comes from fields on the American continent, the United States accounting for about 71 per cent., and Spanish-American countries and Trinidad for 13 per cent. Production of countries other than the United States and Mexico has gradually increased during the last four years and now represents about 21 per cent. of the total. The United States easily retains its long standing leadership with a total yield of 775,000,000 bbl., or an average daily yield of 2,123,000, representing about 71 per cent. of the total, which is about equal to that of the previous year. An increase in production of about 11,000,000 bbl. is indicated by the statistics so far available. It will be noted that the American production in the last 4 years has averaged about 746,000,000 bbl. yearly and that this uniformity, as well as the marked increases

Jan 1, 1927

By AIME AIME

A SPECIAL meeting arranged by the Petroleum and Gas Committee of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 21 and 22, in the Assembly Room of the American Annex Hotel, St. Louis, Mo. Preceding the first session on Tuesday morning, the members and guests were registered and presented with the usual Institute badges. The morning session was opened at 10:30 by Ralph Arnold of Los Angeles, Calif., Chairman of the Petroleum and Gas Committee. In his opening remarks, he suggested that the petroleum section specialize more and more on the technical problems of the oil industry and that an effort be made to enlarge the membership of the Institute among the technical men of the industry. The following program was presented : OIL FIELDS OF RUSSIA, by A. Beeby Thompson and T. G. Madgwick, of London, England. Presented by H. A. Wheeler; discussed by Arthur Knapp and R. VanA. Mills. This most comprehensive paper was one of what is hoped to be a series to be presented by some of our foreign members. It is by far the best description in English of the world-famous Baku and other fields of Russia.

Jan 1, 1920

By Robert E. Wilson, J. K. Roberts

IN order to make clear the reasons for the basic importance of petroleum and natural gas in the world today, and the problems faced by our scientists and technologists in using efficiently these great natural resources and finding possible replacements for them, it will be necessary to present a brief discussion of hydrocarbon chemistry The most important use of petroleum products is as fuel, particularly for the various forms of the internal-combustion engine There are, of course, hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds that give off heat when they burn, that is, when they combine with the oxygen of the air If a capable chemist were assigned the problem of finding the ideal volatile liquid fuel for use in an engine, he would probably begin by referring to the tables that give the heats of combustion of the chemical elements Of all the ninety-odd elements, hydrogen shows up with by far the highest heat of combustion-about 52,000 British thermal units per pound Unfortunately, however, hydrogen is a very light gas, which can be liquefied only at very low temperatures To burn it as fuel in an automobile would require a balloon about as big as the car to hold the equivalent of a gallon of gasoline, or, the hydrogen could be compressed in heavy steel cylinders, but -this would require about 125 pounds of steel per pound of hydrogen. Obviously, then, hydrogen itself cannot be considered

Jan 1, 1947

By H. D. Wilde

GREAT emphasis is being placed today on petroleum as a source of chemicals. Such prominence is well merited, for rapid strides have been made in developing processes for the conversion of petroleum into synthetic chemical products, which are now being made on a huge scale. These marvelous accomplishments have resulted in some highly optimistic predictions as to what can be expected in the future. Many of these forecasts are well justified, but some writers, especially those contributing to the Sunday supplements and the popular-cience type of publications, have let their imagination run wild and present a rather distorted picture of the possibilities in this field in the postwar period. Commercial manufacture of synthetic organic chemicals had its beginning in England with the establishment of a plant by Sir William Perkin in 1857 for the manufacture of "Aniline Purple" or "Mauve." The preceding year he had discovered in the laboratory how this dyestuff could be made from aniline, one of the many derivatives of coal tar, and he soon made commercial application of his discovery. Influenced largely by his success, organic chemists began research on production of a vast array of synthetic dyestuffs, medicinals, flavors, scents, and explosives. Rapid progress was made and by the turn of the century hundreds of these products were being manufactured. Most of these synthetic chemicals were derived from materials obtained as by-products in the conversion of coal into coke. These by-products are generally referred to as "aromatics" and are obtained by processing coal tar recovered in the coking process, so they are popularly known as "coal-tar chemicals." During the early years of this century, coal-tar chemistry was the wonder of the age, and rightfully so, since the products so made seemed limitless.

Jan 1, 1944

By W. B. Heroy

ONLY through the mineral fuels can large amounts of energy be transported to great dlstances and stored for long periods for future use. Coal has the advantages over oil of greater safety of handling and smaller losses in storage. But oil is, in the present stage of technical advancement, the more economical source of liquid fuel for internal-combustion motors. No method for direct use of coal in such motors has been developed that can compete with petroleum products. The automoblle engine and the airplane motor are designed to make the most effective use of gasoline.

Jan 1, 1944

By Best W. N.

Discussion of the paper of W. N. BEST, presented at the San Francisco meeting, September, 1915, and printed in Bulletin No. 104, August, 1915, pp. 1527 to 1537. WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS, San Francisco, Cal.-I would like to ask whether .Mr. Best ever had any experience with an oil burner that used neither air nor steam? W. N. BEST, New York, N. Y.-Yes. This type is commonly known as the "mechanical spray burner" and uses oil heated under high pressure to above its vaporizing point. These burners are not as efficient as the atomizing type for the following reasons: 1. They produce a round flame which; as with any other type of burner, must pass over a flat surface. A round flame cannot fit a flat surface. 2. They do not evenly distribute the heat, resulting in localized heat. 3. The outlet through which the fuel passes is very small; so all gravities of oil, especially oil containing sand, cannot be burned. 4. Their construction is such that they must be cleaned frequently, as the residuum in the fuel clogs the burner. 5. The oil opening being small, the capacity of each burner is small, so that many burners must be used in a boiler or furnace. (The fewer burners there are, the more accurately they can be regulated.) In marine boilers, these burners are largely used, because they do not require either steam or air for atomization. However, there are other methods by which this objection to other types can be eliminated, such as by the use of a rotary blower and steam turbine engine, the exhaust front the engine passing into the engine condenser, thus obviating loss of water. Mechanical burners are rarely used in shops. I know of but one power plant using them. With mechanical burners, the fuel must be maintained at a high pressure. On board naval vessels, some mechanical burners demand an oil pressure of from 100 to 6001b. It is advisable to reduce the pressure as much as possible, as fractured pipes or fittings are particularly dangerous, for the heated oil escapes as a vapor. In such cases there is liability of an explosion caused by spontaneous combustion.

Jan 12, 1915

By W. N. Best

(San Francisco Meeting, September, 1915) INTRODUCTION CRUDE oil attracted attention because of its excellence as a fuel for open-hearth furnaces; for making crucible steel and brass; for melting copper, lead, tin, zinc, nickel, silver, malleable iron, gray iron; and for the production of steam in all sizes and types of boilers. For heating furnaces, mold-drying ovens, core ovens, ore roasters, calciners, hot-air furnaces, sand drying, asphalt road work, etc., its superiority over other fuels is due to the fact that the heat is at all times under perfect control, so that a constant temperature may be attained and maintained at the will of the operator. This means a maximum amount and uniform quality of work. Crude oil is of two kinds, paraffine base and asphaltum base, and varies from 11 to 46 gravity Baumé. The light-gravity oil does not require heating before use; but oil of less than 20 gravity Baumé should be heated to just below its vaporizing point, in order to reduce its viscosity and to obtain the highest efficiency of combustion. Heavy California oil vaporizes at 230°'F., Mexican crude oil at from 175° to 210° F., and Beaumont, Texas, oil at 142° F. Fuel oil vaporizes at 130° F.

Jan 8, 1915

Established as a Division March 24, 1922 John R McMillan, '56, Chairman Claude R Hocott, '55, Past Chairman Thomas C Frick, '56, Vice-Chairman D W Akins, '57, Vice-Chairman Joe B Alford, Executive Secretary 800 Fidelity Union Building Dallas 1, Texas T A Pollard, Treasurer

Jan 1, 1954

Established as a Division March 24, 1922 R B Gilmore, '57, Chairman G L Yates, '56, Vice-Chairman Phil J Lehnhard, '56, Vice-Chairman John R McMillan, Past Chairman T A Pollard, Treasurer Joe B Alford, Executive Secretary 800 Fidelity Union Building Dallas 1, Texas

Jan 1, 1955

Established as a Division March 24, 1922 T C Frick, Chairman R B Gilmore, Past Chairman T A Atkinson, Vice-Chairman R C Earlougher, Vice-Chairman Glenn M Stearns, Treasurer Joe B Alford, Executive Secretary 800 Fidelity Union Building , Dallas 1, Texas

Jan 1, 1956

Jan 1, 1951